ose melancholy moments; while he was lying in bed, for
instance, awake in the morning, when he was shaving himself, and
sometimes also when the squire was prosy after dinner. At such times
as these, while he would be listening to Mr Dale, his self-reproaches
would sometimes be very bitter. Why should he undergo this, he,
Crosbie of Sebright's, Crosbie of the General Committee Office,
Crosbie who would allow no one to bore him between Charing Cross and
the far end of Bayswater,--why should he listen to the long-winded
stories of such a one as Squire Dale? If, indeed, the squire intended
to be liberal to his niece, then it might be very well. But as yet
the squire had given no sign of such intention, and Crosbie was angry
with himself in that he had not had the courage to ask a question on
that subject.

And thus the course of love was not all smooth to our Apollo. It was
still pleasant for him when he was there on the croquet ground, or
sitting in Mrs Dale's drawing-room with all the privileges of an
accepted lover. It was pleasant to him also as he sipped the squire's
claret, knowing that his coffee would soon be handed to him by a
sweet girl who would have tripped across the two gardens on purpose
to perform for him this service. There is nothing pleasanter than all
this, although a man when so treated does feel himself to look like a
calf at the altar, ready for the knife, with blue ribbons round his
horns and neck. Crosbie felt that he was such a calf,--and the more
calf-like, in that he had not as yet dared to ask a question about
his wife's fortune. "I will have it out of the old fellow this
evening," he said to himself, as he buttoned on his dandy shooting
gaiters that morning.

"How nice he looks in them," Lily said to her sister afterwards,
knowing nothing of the thoughts which had troubled her lover's mind
while he was adorning his legs.

"I suppose we shall come back this way," Crosbie said, as they
prepared to move away on their proper business when lunch was over.

"Well, not exactly!" said Bernard. "We shall make our way round by
Darvell's farm, and so back by Gruddock's. Are the girls going to
dine up at the Great House to-day?"

The girls declared that they were not going to dine up at the Great
House,--that they did not intend going to the Great House at all that
evening.

"Then, as you won't have to dress, you might as well meet us at
Gruddock's gate, at the back of the farmyard. We'll be there